Two Sides of a Story
by PaperballThoughts
Summary: Becky prays for him to wake up. Adam's fighting to find his way back. How will he get out of the coma and begin living again after the accident? [BECKDAM/MULTICHAPTER]
1. Back To You

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Degrassi nor am I affiliated with Epitome. If I were, Adam would still be alive.**_

**~ . ~ . ~**

She was at a party when she got the call.

Her friends had organized a going-away bash before she had to head back to Toronto. She thought it pointless, really. It's not like she was never coming back to Florida—her whole family was here she was sure to be back for a visit. She knew her friends were just using her as an excuse to throw a party.

She remembered sitting on a log by the bonfire, absentmindedly thinking of Adam and their most recent fight. She still couldn't believe that he had hacked and impersonated her on FaceRange. Even worse, she couldn't believe the fact that he dared accuse her of cheating on him with Todd. Unfaithfulness is a sin, and even if it weren't, she would never betray Adam like that. She loved him too much, and the thought of participating in the sinful acts of infidelity made her heart hurt. Not to mention that Todd was just a friend. That's all he really was, but it seemed that Adam thought there was more and she didn't understand why. She didn't understand how Adam could have forgotten how much she loved him or how he seemed to forget what kind of person she was. That's what had made her so mad: the fact that Adam lost faith in her, and how he somehow didn't trust her anymore. She was angry with the way he dealt with the situation, and how he didn't find it better to talk about it with her instead. She was mad at the clear reality of how their relationship didn't look to be as solid as they thought it was.

That's what led to their "break". They hadn't talked in a week, but to her it seemed more like an eternity, which was confusing because she wasn't sure if they had broken up. They never talked about it, which, admittedly, was partly her fault. But the truth was that she wasn't ready to face the possibility of losing Adam and breaking things for good. She wasn't ready for a life without Adam by her side. They had talked of the looming geographical separation they would have to face after graduating from Degrassi, what with her going back to Florida for cheaper tuition while Adam stayed in Toronto for the same reason. They had planned to use this summer break as a practice run for the oncoming long distance relationship they would have to endure, and everything they organized seemed to be going well. Breaking up was never part of the plan (that is if they really had broken up over the phone and neither of them knew it).

Anger always made people do things they later regret, and she regretted not talking to him for as long as they did. She regretted avoiding him, and sending him back cut-up roses as a result of her rage. That's why she had her mind fixated on her "maybe boyfriend" at this party. That's why she clutched her phone like a lifeline, waiting for any sign of a reply from the boy back home.

It had been hours since she sent him the text. She thought that due to his relentless texting and calls over the past few days, that she would get a quick reply from Adam, but it seemed she was mistaken. She never got a call back, nor did she get any messages from him. She thought that was it. She thought she had been too late. She began to feel the weight of the reality of their break up as her shoulder slumped. Her heart tightened up with each breath she tried to take, and her stomach tied itself in painful knots. The heat from the bonfire didn't seem to help, and she attempted to get away from the crowd, not caring if her friends noticed the heartache emanating from her face.

She was on her way to the house to find Kelly when Luke stepped in front of her, grabbed her by the shoulder and led her to an empty room. He was on his phone, his face stony and serious giving one-word answers to whomever it was he was talking to on his cell phone. At that point she didn't have enough energy to pry herself away from her brother to go look for Kelly. Instead she sat on the bed and tried to control her breathing. Thoughts of breaking up with Adam still consumed her, and she felt herself to be on the verge of a tears. None of this was part of the plan. She was just supposed to be gone for a short time, they were to contact each other on scheduled times, she was supposed to go back to Toronto, and they were supposed to be stronger couple. They were not supposed to end this way.

She heard her brother say a few words on the phone before he passed it to her. She was confused, but took it anyway. She pressed it to her ear and gave a short greeting, not really caring who she was talking to or what she was even doing. She didn't care until the person started speaking.

"Hey Becky, It's Dallas. It's about Adam."

That's when she found out.

He wasn't avoiding her, which was a good sign for their relationship. But the news of his accident broke her even more than the mere thought of a possible break up.

She couldn't remember much of what happened after (or during) the call. All she can remember is feeling a blanket of emptiness keeping her from breathing normally. She remembers a sudden chill taking over her body, and the shaking that followed and didn't seem to stop. She remembers her brother wrapping her in his arms and Kelly entering the room, asking Luke what happened.

She couldn't remember crying. But she must have because her eyes have been red since the day she found out. She doesn't remember getting home from the party, telling her parents, or packing her suitcase, not even how she flew back to Toronto.

All she knows is being at the hospital, looking at Adam through the windows to his room in the ICU. She watches as his mom gently strokes his hair and kisses his bandaged hand. His stepfather was standing on the other side of the bed comforting Drew, who was repeatedly stroking Adam's other hand, both seeming to fight back tears forming in their eyes.

Dallas was on the bench behind her sitting quietly next to Imogen and Eli. Dallas was the one to pick her up at the airport. They drove to the hospital in silence, only talking when they heard more news of Adam's surgery.

At that point she only knew the facts. There was another car. Adam was texting. The airbags hadn't deployed. His head smashed against the wheel causing extensive trauma to the brain. He had a punctured lung caused by several fractured ribs. He was in surgery for half a day. He flat lined twice from excessive blood loss, but miraculously came back to life each time. Despite all the pain and near-deaths he suffered, Adam managed to survive the surgery. He was put on a medically induced coma, to which the doctors informed that the only step left is to wait for Adam to wake up. They had done their job and it was now his turn. It was all up to him.

This was the most she'd seen him since the last time they had a Skype date. This wasn't the way she imagined their reunion to be. Instead of flowers and kisses, she was greeted with a tattered Adam wrapped in bandages, attached to machines, and nearing death. The vision of her boyfriend clinging to life and the idea of almost permanently losing him weakened her to the core. Broken up or not, this is not something she ever wanted to see or experience. This was not the way either of them wanted things to end.

She patiently waited for his family to finally let her see him, and when they did, Audra gave her a hug and told the others to leave the girl with Adam. They gave her some privacy with Adam but she didn't know how to take it. She feared approaching him but craved to be near him at the same time. Would he know it was her by his side this time? Would he want even her there?

All this uncertainty added strain to the situation they were faced with. The uncertainty of their relationship, the uncertainty of his life, and the uncertainty of hearing and feeling her presence near him. Nothing surrounding them was certain anymore, and the only one who seemed to be feeling everything was her.

She let out shaky breaths for each step she got closer to him. She carefully approached him, hoping that he might open his eyes upon her arrival, but only making her sadder with the fact that reality would probably not work the same way she hopes for it to be. She softly chuckled at the sight of his messy hair and cautiously smoothed it, only to be saddened by his unmoving state. He would normally try to get away from her hands and tell her that his hair was fixed in a certain way, touching it would only mess it up even more. But there she was, smoothing his hair and not so much as a flinch came from him.

This whole scene made her uncomfortable. Never had she ever seen Adam so peaceful. Even his sleeping stance was never this calm. He looked like a statue. He looked as if all traces of the Adam she knew and learned to love had been temporarily put away. He had been replaced with a stock-still, lifeless version of him, one that need the help of machine in order to keep him alive. He seemed closer to death than life, and that's what scared Becky the most out of this situation.

But she braved on through anyway. All the fear, uncertainty and discomfort would never be enough to keep her away from Adam, especially not that moment. The love she had for him was stronger than any of the other things she felt at the time. Nothing could hold her back, all she wanted was to be with him and never leave until he woke up.

A small and broken, "Hey Adam" was all she could muster after kissing his forehead and let the dam break and the tears began to freely flow. For a while she stayed reserved, staring and gently stroking his face, unable to utter anything more. Any attempt was replaced by a gasp and nothing ever came out.

She quickly found comfort in the sounds filling the room. These included the obnoxious beeping from the heart monitor, which indicated signs of life despite the boy's stillness. She prayed in silence and used the noise as a reminder of Adam's transparent existence around her.

She was never the selfish kind of person, but right now she felt the need to be one in order to get what she wanted. She wasn't ready to lose him quite yet, and despite all the pain he might feel when he wakes up, there is nothing more that she wanted for God to give her at that moment.

Becky wanted to have Adam, and she wanted him whole.

**~ . ~ . ~**

**Thank you for reading!  
>AN: I have an outline to make this into a multi chapter plot so if you're interested let me know in a review =)**

**Next Chapter: Adam's POV (if you want to know how, leave a review and you'll find out!)**


	2. Above Ground

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Degrassi, nor am I affiliated with Epitome.**_

**~ . ~ . ~**

He knew he was dead the moment he stepped foot on the path. He had seen the bright lights and felt the shortness of breath. He remembers the tree and the crash, and his most precious memories running through his mind for one last time before he was engulfed in sudden darkness.

Adam Torres was dead, and he knew it. But there was nothing he could do about it.

He doesn't know how he got there, or what this place really is. The path was made of cobbled stones, just like the streets from old towns in Europe, but nothing about this place indicated him being in Europe. Instead there were trees, which Adam found to be strange because he knew that cobbled stones didn't really belong forests. The trees were gigantic. The branches were so high they disappeared into a sea of clouds.

It was beautiful to look at, but none of it made any sense. It was another hint that reminded him of his recent death.

This wasn't really how he imagined the afterlife to be like. Having grown up in a Catholic household, Adam had expected to be welcomed by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. He imagined a round of trials before being allowed into Paradise, and most of all, he was disappointed by the fact that he wasn't up in the clouds (like the way Heaven is portrayed in movies and cartoons). Nothing in this place was as he imagined it to be, which made him all the more confused.

For one, he had entered through a door that popped up between two thin trees. He followed signs that led him to the path, where he found a stream of people walking in the same direction. Not knowing what else to do, Adam decided to follow their lead. He had contemplated asking one of the people where exactly they were going, but it seemed that every single person in walking bore the same confusion he assumed he had on his face. Every so often a door would appear between trees on the side of the path and once a person had come out from it, the door would instantly vanish again. Other than the sporadic emergence of doors on the side, there really was nothing else to do but walk.

It felt like he'd been doing it for hours before reaching a fork in the road. Most of the people around him had diverted toward the left, except for the few that stayed behind to actually read the sign that separated the road. There was a pillar with arrows pointing in opposite directions, the one on the left read _For Rest_, and the one pointing to the right read _For Thoughts_.

Adam thought it hard which road to choose. He was extremely tired, the effects of the accident were not as severe in the afterlife, but he still felt a lingering soreness on his ribs, which he assumed to be the one most injured from the impact. All of this made him want to choose the path to the left, but the vagueness made him hesitant. What did _rest,_ mean in this world? Was it a bed to nap on, or was it the path that would let him be in eternal rest? Even if it lead to that state, Adam had no clue what any of it meant. The foundation of his reasoning at this point was based on the little things he remembered from Sunday school at Church.

That one on the right was even more cryptic, which wasn't doing much to help him decide where to go. Going to a place to think sounded like the most boring place to be, but what if it led him to an area where he could get answers to questions that started to build up in him.

Adam looked around and found a middle-aged man who seemed nice enough to start a conversation with, "Excuse me, sir".

The man looked down at him, eyes widening upon realizing just how young he looked. He smiled and nodded to Adam telling him to continue.

"I'm really sorry to bother you," he said, "But do you have any idea where these things lead us?"

"Ah," The man stared a the sign with as much confusion as Adam, "I'm sorry, but I only know as much as you do, kid," He took a final glance at the signs until he marched on his heel toward the path on the right.

"Why'd you choose to go there?" Adam asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe there's something exciting up in here," and with just a few more steps, the man disappeared into the fog.

Adam still didn't know where to go. He was ready for some much needed rest, but he was also tempted to go find something "exciting". A new set of people behind him arrived, most of them taking the path to the left, just like the others had done in the group he came with. This time, only three from them had chosen to go for some _Thoughts_. One of them ran to the right with the most determined face he had seen in this world—as if she knew exactly what she was doing or where she was going. When the woman whizzed past Adam, a slight breeze passed him and somehow fixed his hair. He ran a hand where he felt the wind pass through and noticed that it had positioned itself in the way Becky had always smoothed it.

Just like magic.

Becky. The mere thought of Becky made him dizzy. He would never get to see his girlfriend again. Or touch her soft skin, kiss her lips, or be with her. Adam immediately lost all feelings of tiredness and was left feeling sad instead.

Knowing he was dead was far different from realizing the reality of his state. Not only was he far from his family and loved ones, but he was in a completely different world. They were still living on Earth and he was—he wasn't sure what or where he was anymore.

He remembers living. He remembers loving. He remembers _dying_. But what he doesn't remember is his life ending for good.

Adam took these questions with him as he took the road on the right. He hoped to gain some answers and sought the excitement that the others carried with them on their way there.

**~ . ~ . ~**

**Thank you for reading and leaving reviews on the previous chapter!  
>Let me know what you think of this one. I have an idea for where this story would go, but if you have suggestions, let me know =)<strong>


	3. Brigade

**Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all celebrated well =)  
><strong>**Here's the new chapter, I'm sorry it's a little short, but I promise that the story will start to get going in the next chapter.**

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Degrassi, nor am I affiliated with Epitome.**_

**~ . ~ . ~**

When news of Adam's accident began to spread, a mass of people arrived at the hospital to show their support. The day after all his surgeries, a corning in his room was filled with all sorts of get well wishes: some in form of cards, some in balloons, there also were stuffed toys, and an innumerable array of colourful flowers. It never surprised Becky to see just how loved Adam was by people.

After weeks of dating the boy, she soon learned that he was the kind of well-rounded person who was friends with all kinds of people. In a span of a day, Becky had interacted with all of his friends and the people with whom Adam was acquainted with. All day, like the rest of the Torres family, she accepted people's words of sympathy and encouragement.

They all saw her as the distraught girlfriend who may or may not be on the brink of witnessing her boyfriend's death. Little did they know, their relationship was more complicated than that. They might have seen Becky as the worried girlfriend, but she didn't even know whether she was still his girlfriend or not. She didn't even know when Adam would wake up. The obscurity of their entire fate was the thing she pondered on the most. Most of all, she wanted Adam to wake up and finally continue on living.

Close to thirty people had come for a visit, many of which were Adam's friends from all the clubs and extracurricular activities he participated in at Degrassi. When the group of students from Paris had finally come back home, many of them had gone straight to the hospital to pay Adam a visit.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Adam's destiny, there was one thing Becky was sure of. It was the fact that Adam definitely didn't lack any love from anybody who knew him.

Some people decided to stay around and made a brigade of supporters who loitered by the waiting area. Some of these people included Eli, Clare, Alli Imogen, Connor, Dallas, and Bianca. All their faces bore heartbroken expressions, but instantly tried to look brighter whenever Drew took a break and sat by his fiancée in the waiting room. They had all made a promise to each other to try to give Drew and his family the most cheerful and supportive encouragement they could get.

Becky, however, stood off to the corner-most part of the room behind some tall plants talking to the only other best friend she had left in Canada, Jenna.

"He's usually the one who holds my hand when I need comfort," Becky said, "But he's the one fighting for his life and it makes me wonder, you know," she shook her head with her eyes closed and willed the pool of tears forming in her eyes to stay put, "Whose hand are we supposed to hold when the one you love is the one that needs help?"

Becky laid her head on Jenna's shoulder, her exhaustion making itself known. She hadn't been able to sleep much since her arrival back to Toronto. The last time she remembered having a restful sleep was the night before her fight with Adam. It had been quite a while since Becky was able to relax without anything bothering her. Before her sleep was only disrupted by angry thoughts toward Adam and their argument, but that all seemed so trivial now compared to what she was dealing currently with. How could she possibly have a calming moment of sleep when all she could think of was Adam and how she wants him back in all possible ways. She wanted him alive and well, she wanted their relationship to be back as they used to be, she wanted them to revert to the kind of simplicity their lives had from before the summer of hell had even begun. She wanted normalcy back, but it seemed as if Becky wasn't going to get that life back again.

"I know everything must feel crazy for you right now, but I'm sure Adam will be back before we know it," Jenna couldn't imagine what Becky was going through at the moment, but she had been by her friend's side ever since her arrival at the hospital with the rest of the Paris group.

"I was telling myself that all of last night. But…But I don't know anymore. The doctors said that he should be awake right now. And he's still in a coma, and the longer he is the harder it gets to deal with the fact that he m-might actually die."

Hearing some gasps behind her, Becky turned around to find every pair of eyes in the waiting room looking in her direction. Any mention of death looked to be taboo in this room, and Becky quickly whispered her apologies to those who had heard her. She, too, had previously been avoiding any talk of death the night before. But as more time passed without Adam waking up, Becky became more inclined to contemplate the reality of the situation because she knew that if Adam didn't wake up any time soon, his family would be left to make the decision for him.

**~ . ~ . ~**

**Thank you for reading! Please leave a review to let me know how it's going, and as always I'm open to suggestions.**


	4. Ascension

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, life's been a bit hectic since the last update. Here's the new chapter. I hope you like it!**

**_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Degrassi nor am I affiliated with Epitome. If I were, Adam would still be alive._**

**~ . ~ . ~**

**Ascension**

After following a series of arrows that led him to a new and cleaner road, Adam found himself standing by the entrance of a tall building at the centre of all the trees. A huge banner dangled just above the entry doors that read: WELCOME TO SUSPENSION.

Adam was confused. He thought he was in Heaven and had no idea what or where _Suspension_ was. Sunday school never mentioned any sort of place in Heaven.

Having nowhere else to go and nothing to do, Adam entered the shiny tower and hoped to get some answers to the questions that piled up in his head. Inside, a man in white robes, stood on a levitating platform in the middle of what looked to be a lobby. The man spoke in the most cheerful voice Adam had heard since his arrival in this odd place.

"Welcome everyone! Welcome to Suspension!" The podium slowly rotated, giving the man a chance to survey the entire lobby without moving a muscle. "Please think of the first letter of your _first_ name and queue up in alphabetical order for check-in before heading to the elevators. If you have any questions, please see yourself at the information desk on the right." He waited another minute before repeating his speech word for word. Adam pitied whoever this man was. He was in Heaven, and he was stuck with a job where he had to repeat himself over and over.

The more Adam listened to the speech, the more he realized he wasn't sure which name to use to start queuing up. Did the people in Heaven expect him to be Gracie, or do they know him as Adam?

After carefully thinking of what to ask, he made his way to the information desk where he found another man in white robes, whose looks were so strikingly identical to the man on the podium that Adam assumed them to be twins.

"Mr. Adam Torres, how may I help you?" Adam blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected anyone here to know his chosen name.

"I…" He shook his head, "How do you know my name?"

"We know everyone who comes through Suspension," The man noticed Adam looking at his desk, searching for proof on how he knew so much, "I don't have a list if that's what you're looking for. Now, was there something you needed help with?"

Adam stood shell-shocked and staring at the man who somehow knew his chosen name, and by some luck knew he was looking for proof. He decided to ignore it and just go on to ask his question. "So do I just—Actually, no. I was wondering— If I have multiple names that people know me by, which one do I check-in with?"

The man gave him an impish smile and said, "You can simply present yourself with the name you feel most comfortable with. Don't you worry, Mr. Torres. Everyone who works here knows all the people who come for a visit. You won't be lost." He winked at the young man, and began tending to an older woman behind him.

Adam had hoped to get more reassurance, but decided to just go with the flow and queue up in the line for the letter "A". Weirdly enough, the line was shorter than other letters, and his turn came faster than he expected.

The man at the check-in desk was another twin of previous two, but this time Adam kept his surprise to himself. Just like the one at the information desk, this person seemed to know who he was.

"Welcome Mr. Adam Torres. We've been expecting you," The man flipped through the pages of a large book and stopped once he found the page he was looking for. Adam saw his name printed at the top of the page and a drawing of his face on the left side of the page. There was a small paragraph, which he assumed to be a short summary of his life. Adam was about to read it when the man handed Adam a gleaming white pen, "Please sign your initials here," The man pointed to a small box just under his picture, "and please sign your full name here," he pointed to another box, this time under the large printed name.

"Is that it?" He asked.

The man carefully closed the book and gave Adam a much smaller notebook, "You might be needing this when you get to your group seminar. You can keep that pen, if you need any help, just press the button next to the button," Adam looked for which button he was referring to but couldn't see what he meant. He wanted to ask questions but the man spoke with so much speed he barely had any time to breathe, "This is your ID card. You will need it to go through doors and rooms and use elevators. Please do not lose it. You will not get a replacement," Adam took the card and was surprised to see which picture they used. It was a picture Becky had taken of him in her room. "Please proceed to the elevators. Someone will be there to give more instructions. Have a good trip, Mr. Torres!" The man gave Adam a tired robotic smile and quickly moved on to the next in line.

Adam walked toward the elevators staring at the picture on the card. He could easily recall the day the picture was taken. It was the first day of Spring, the warmest day in Toronto since winter's end. Becky's parents were away on a trip to Florida, her brother was at a hockey practice camp for the weekend, meaning she would have the house to herself. Without second thought, she invited Adam for a sleepover in order to take advantage of all the privacy they would have. He accepted the offer, excited to spend a weekend with his girlfriend without any interruptions whatsoever. It was a guy's dream. Even if he hadn't expected them to do anything that would go against all of Becky's vows, he knew it was a dream come true. They hardly ever had much privacy as a couple and having this weekend alone was something they both wanted to have together. Convincing his mother to let him go was a challenge, but she let him go upon promising to behave properly and to not do anything they would later regret. On their first day, much of their time was spent in her room, talking and lounging, until Becky took her camera and started snapping pictures of them in bed. She said she needed pictures to start a scrapbook she was working on, one about their relationship, and how she wanted to have something to show their children in the future. On the second day they were more physical. After sleeping next to each other on the first night, they couldn't seem to get enough of each other the next day. It started with innocent kisses in the morning, and somehow escalated to more touching as the day went on. That had led them to compromising positions on her bed in the later hours of the night. Nothing too sinfully extreme happened, but they had explored each other in more places than usual that night than they had ever before. This picture was a candid snap that Becky had taken of Adam the morning after their night of fun. It was a memorable time; one that Adam would never forget.

He had no idea how the workers in Heaven got a hold of this picture (or why this one was chosen in the first place), but he was glad that they did. This picture reminded him of who he was on Earth and the kind of life he lived. It reminded him of the people he loved and the people he would never see.

Maybe Suspension was the place where he could finally get answers. Maybe he can finally make sense of the thoughts that gathered in his head.

But before then, Adam had to do as he was told and follow the instructions given to him by the clone-like men. Right now, he had to go to the 17th floor, and wait until Heaven gave him time to figure things out.

**~ . ~ . ~**

**A/N: THANK YOU FOR READING!  
>Thank you to those who left reviews for the last chapter. You guys are awesome! =)<br>Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	5. Bruiser

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Degrassi, nor am I affiliated with Epitome.**_

**~ . ~ . ~**

He looked so peaceful. He sometimes looked _too_ peaceful for Becky's pleasure. He was moved to a whole new floor, and into a much bigger room. Adam had been discharged from the Intensive Care Unit due to changes in his symptoms.

Back in the ICU, doctors confirmed that Adam was in an unusual and rare form of coma. Normally, medically induced comas are meant to put patients to rest as their bodies sleep through the pain caused by surgeries. This sleep was not meant to last for days. Most patients wake up a few hours after their surgery—some take a full day to wake, at most. But there were uncommon cases where the patient passes the state of a coma and continues the act sleeping instead of waking. These patients would show rapid eye movements, proving that life was still in them. The only barrier between them and the world was that they were asleep, and others were not.

Adam was asleep. It's what the doctors told them. The good news is that he was no longer in a coma, which was more indefinite than sleep. Doctors said that the dream state was more promising than the uncertainty of a coma. The problem was that the rarity of his condition made it difficult for doctors to predict his well-being. He could be asleep for hours, or for months, and the only thing left to do was to wait in time. The decision was his, and the rest just had to hold on.

The Torres' took this news eagerly. Audra and Omar had become more hopeful, but Drew still looked as if he had something weighing on his shoulders. Bianca and Dallas relaxed a little more, and focused on keeping Drew afloat. They constantly reminded him that he needed to be strong for Adam when he wakes up, but the boy still refused to eat or sleep.

Even though the crowed started to vanish as students began to prepare for the coming school year, Becky adamantly stayed by Adam's side. She and Audra had gotten closer in such a short time, that Becky easily became a part of their family. She was included in the schedule that Bianca had made to give shifts for who would stay with Adam. That way, he would never be alone, and the family would have some time to rest until their next shift.

With the Bakers back in town, Becky's family would drop her off at the hospital for her shift, and picked her up when she was done. They kept her company at night, and Luke let her cry on his shoulder from time to time. Much to her surprise, her family actually seemed to be supportive of her actions, and never made a single negative comment about Adam whatsoever.

Everything would have been perfect, if only Adam was there to enjoy it with her.

Instead, she would lie next to Adam on his hospital bed, and gently clung to him as she whispered prayers in his ear. Every so often, when her emotions came and took control, she would tear up and desperately demand for him to wake up. Becky didn't want to give up. She knew in her heart that God would do His best to bring Adam back to her.

"I'm surprised you're still here."

It was Drew.

Becky wasn't quite sure why, but ever since she made it to the hospital, he had been the only member of the Torres family that hadn't given her a warm welcome. She hadn't paid much attention to his cold behaviour, until she noticed that every time she entered a room he was in, he always made it a point to get up and leave as fast as he could. Sometimes, when his parents were around and he couldn't find a way to leave, he would glare in her direction.

Drew was mad at Becky Baker, and she had no idea why.

"My boyfriend has been unconscious for five days when he should technically already be awake. Why wouldn't I be here?" She sighed and stood up by the bed. Becky examined the older boy. Drew's exhaustion was clearly marked by the dark circles under his eyes and the pasty complexion of his skin. He almost looked as sick as the patients in this hospital.

"Don't even pretend like you don't know what you're really doing here," Drew seemed to be in his own world. He walked to a corner where a sea of get-well-soon cards could be found, avoiding eye-contact with the girl in the room, "You have my parents wrapped up in your fake sunshine and daisies personality, but at least I know the truth."

Despite the shocking animosity Drew had for her, Becky kept her eyes at him as he walked around the room picking up Adam's well-wisher toys and pretended to play with them. Something seemed to have provoked him into an angry stupor, a mood the girl had never seen him in. Becky didn't know what to do and immediately thought of the taller boy's fiancée. Maybe she could do something to calm him down.

She mustered up enough courage and said, "Drew, are you ok? Do you want me to get Bianca for you?" Becky attempted to walk for the door, but the boy snapped before she even could even take a step further.

"Don't even bother doing your act with me, I know the real reason why Adam ended up in here. You do too. You're just acting all innocent and stupid." His hands were balled in fists and his body shook turbulently. Before Becky could speak in her defence, Drew looked straight into her eyes for the first time since she arrived and said, "It's all your fault you know?"

Becky flinched at the hostility in his voice. She had grown used to people raising their voices at her in times of argument, but she had never experienced anyone ever using such antagonizing words toward her. No one has ever directed as much heartfelt hatred as Drew did to her in that moment. Because of this, she stayed silent, and let the boy talk. Maybe it's what he needed to do in order to finally accept Adam's condition.

"Do you realize that if—if you just didn't send those stupid roses all cut up a-and if you just didn't flirt with that guy with the abs and posted the pictures all over Hastygram, Adam wouldn't be here right now? All of this," Drew flung his arms motioning to their surroundings, _"This_ is all your fault."

Becky gaped at Drew, clearly at a loss for words. She attempted to take in every single word thrown in her direction, but it all came so fast that she didn't have much time to process everything. This was more than just Drew letting off some steam. I looked as if he wanted to give Becky a piece of his mind. In fact, Becky wasn't even aware that Drew knew about the fight she and Adam had. His anger was made clearer now, though. Drew's frigid behaviour around Becky was explained in one swift air of anger.

"Adam was texting you," He scoffed, "The night of the crash? _You_ were the one he was trying to text when he…" Drew's eyes started to glaze as the memory of the crumpled van appeared in his mind.

Becky, on the other hand, fell into the chair next to Adam's bed while she tried to get a hold of her breathing. She wasn't aware of the tears that began to pool in her eyes. This was too overwhelming. The accident. The coma. Adam's sleep state. Drew's accusation. Becky needed time to gather her thoughts, but the boy in the room never even gave her time to breathe as he spat unending accusations in her way.

"You broke up with him when all he wanted to do was to talk it out with you. You kept rejecting him. You basically made him do this. He loves you so much he ended up doing something stupid, and it was all for _you_. It's all because of you." Drew let out a shaky breath as he slid down against the wall opposite from where Becky was sitting. "I don't even get why you're still hanging around here. And maybe you're either a bitch for trying to pretend like you didn't do anything, or maybe you're just too stupid to realize that all of this happened because of you."

Becky watched as Drew shook on the floor, back against the wall with his head between his legs. His silent sobbing gave her enough time to mull over his speech.

She didn't know Adam was trying to text _her_ when he crashed. Drew was right. Becky didn't know that she was the eventual cause of his accident. She thought of how stupid she must have looked by not knowing the details of the accident. How could she have not known? She looked at her boyfriend on the bed, any signs of waking still not evident. She wished for him to wake up at this very moment. She wanted him to tell her that what his brother said was wrong. That it wasn't her fault.

Becky needed Adam to tell her that none of it was her fault, because the more he lay motionless, the more the believed every single thing that Drew spat at her.

Maybe she'd been too hard on Adam by sending him back the roses. Maybe she should have let him explain himself on the phone instead of hanging up on him when he told her he loved her. Drew was right. Adam's accident was her fault.

Becky stood from the chair and walked closer to Adam. She caressed his cheeks and bent down to kiss his forehead, "I'm sorry for everything, Adam. I promise I'll be back when everything's better. I love you."

It took every ounce of willpower to make herself leave Adam's side. With Drew in the room, despite his haggard state, she felt better knowing that she wasn't leaving him completely alone. She wasn't aware just how much the fight affected Adam, and the idea behind that notion that she was a contributing factor in his accident only encouraged her decision to leave. It was probably best to leave Adam with his caring family, as opposed to staying and being a burden. She decided that being an addition to the stress of those who waited for Adam to wake up wouldn't be of any help.

Becky Baker fled out of the hospital faster than she ever thought she could, leaving Dallas and Bianca bewildered by her sudden departure.

She decided that the best option was to leave Adam with his family. She would let them cope in peace. She couldn't stand the truth behind Drew's accusations, and concluded that it was all for the best. Maybe with distance, Adam might wake up sooner. Maybe her presence was what was keeping him from waking up from deep slumber.

When would she feel it safe to come back to visit the boy she loved? She didn't know.

**~ . ~ . ~**

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know how you like (or didn't like) it!**


	6. Apostrophe

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Degrassi, nor am I affiliated with Epitome. I'm just bored and decided to write about a sunken ship.**_

**~ . ~ . ~**

Adam stood by the door. There was nowhere left to go.

He took the elevator, just like the man said. He went up to the 17th floor, like he was told to do. There was not much to do in Heaven, but to do as he was told.

With one last _ding_, Adam turned around to see the elevator doors closing and slowly vanishing from the wall. It was gone in a blink. But with the way it left, it almost looked like it actually disappeared right in front of his eyes.

There was nothing around him other than a door across from where the elevator used to be. It was the only thing in sight. There weren't any other doors around, not even some windows to be seen, or people walking by. There was just a door and a boy on an empty floor in Heaven. Adam hesitantly opened it, not sure what to expect—he had nothing to lose, after all.

"Hey guys, Look! We actually got a newbie again," The voice was a whisper, but loud enough for Adam to hear.

He scanned the room and counted eight pairs of eyes ogling him. Girls and boys scattered in a fairly big room. Some were playing cards on a table, some sat by themselves on armchairs reading books the size of an encyclopaedia, and one girl sat on a stool in the corner trying not to care about the new boy.

They all looked so young. They weren't exactly children, but they weren't adults either.

Adam stayed by the doorway as the group scrutinized him from head to toe. This made him question whether he was even allowed entry or. He tried to take a step back, but remembered that there was nowhere else for him to go. It was the only door on the floor and there weren't any other exit routes for him to take. He felt as if he was intruding some sort of gang meeting. As if he was Jack climbing up the beanstalk and witnessing a community of giants. But, in this case, Adam was put on an elevator with only one option to choose: To enter a roomful of teenagers—unwelcoming teenagers.

One guy at the table smirked at Adam, but the girl next to him punched his arm and shook her head. Another girl lying on a couch took one look at Adam, only to quickly fix her eyes back on the book she was holding.

Adam, feeling unwanted, closed the door hoping that when he opened it again, another room with nicer people would pop up instead of the previous one. Much to his dismay, the same room with the same kids were found behind the door. He tried doing it again, still hoping for a new room, but never got his wish. _What kind of place is Heaven, if I'm going to be stuck with teenagers for eternity_, He thought.

"He looks like he's struggling pretty hard over there…" The boy who smirked whispered to the girl who punched his arm.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Someone just go over there and help him before he breaks the damn door."

Adam stopped his commotion. It was only after hearing their comments that he realized how silly he must have looked playing with the door. He sighed and closed his eyes. _Maybe it's all a dream,_ he thought, _maybe I'm not really dead. This could all be a dream._

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't waking up in his room as he had wished. Instead, he opened his eyes to find the girl by the window standing just two steps away from him.

"I don't think you fully comprehend the position you're in right now," she said.

The girl took control of the door and motioned for Adam to come in. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, she was tall and lean, and she reminded him of Becky. This girl's resemblance to his girlfriend made his heart drop. He suddenly remembered how he would never get to see Becky again.

"I'm Jackie," Her voice wasn't as sweet and perky as Becky's, instead it was deeper and laced with evident pain, "That asshole who was laughing at you is Brandon, next to him is his girlfriend Elise."

Adam looked at the couple by the table, the boy still had a smirk on his face. He stood up and walked to the newcomer and held his hand out for Adam.

"Don't listen to Gloomy-Jack-Jack. She's not the best at introducing people." He shook Adam's hand, "I'm Brandon, and I'm not an asshole. I mean, back on Earth people said I was a douche, but Elise can vouch for me when I say that I was never an asshole. Scout's honor."

"I'm Adam," He whispered. It seemed odd, he thought. To have to introduce himself to a new set of people, who like him, are presumably as dead as he was. Would their names even matter in the land of the dead? Aren't they all just _dead_ in the end, especially in Heaven? Just simply: Dead. What was the point of introducing oneself in a place where the beginning was literally their _end_?

Adam shrugged the thoughts in his head as he watched Brandon attempt to avoid a pillow that Elise threw his way. The rest of the people in the room seemed to have gotten used to their banter and unquestionably ignored them.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jackie grab a chair for him to sit next to her by the window. She waved for him to go to her, and he obeyed by sitting and quietly thanking her for her kindness.

"So, Adam. Tell us your story," Elise said, clapping her hands like an excited child waiting for a bedtime tale.

Jackie leaned on the wall, Brandon quieted down, and everybody else in the room, even the ones engrossed in their books, also seemed to want to listen to him tell his story.

Adam, who realized that all the attention was focused on him, felt as if he was back on a stage with WhisperHug on their way to start a set in front of an eager crowd. The difference this time, was that he was solo and without his bass guitar to save him from embarrassment.

"My story? Like…" He gulped, "You mean… The story of my life? Isn't that a bit too boring?"

Brandon, unsurprisingly, was the one to laugh first. Some chuckled and some giggled softly. Adam felt his heart beat faster, thinking he had said something wrong.

"No… Not your life," Jackie informed him, "Seeing as no one knows his or her own life clock around here, we're not sure if anyone has time to listen to your life story."

"What Jackie meant to say," Elise, Adam noticed, was a soft talker, "Is that your life story is probably very interesting. I know mine was," She winked at Brandon, who nodded in approval, "It's just that… One of us could be sent to go For Rest any time soon, or one of us could wake up down there. We're not given any time frame in this room, so we don't have hours to spare to listen to what happened in your lifetime."

Adam tried to understand just what Elise meant about going to rest and something about waking up. Did that have anything to do with the path that most of the people of the cobblestoned path took to the left of the forked road?

"What do you mean by _wake up down there_? Aren't we all dead in here? Isn't this Heaven?" Adam asked.

He looked around at the people in the room as they all sat quietly. The people on the couches looked at Jackie and waited for her to explain, but she looked to Elise, who instead looked at her boyfriend.

Brandon, Adam saw, seemed to have lost all traces of douchebagery and said, "Jackie's right. You really don't get the position you're in, do you?"

Adam shrugged, "I mean. One moment I'm crashing a van, right? Then next thing I know, I'm in a weird forest with people walking in one direction, so naturally, I assume I'm dead. And then, there's the sign pointing to places to go for rest and another to go for thoughts. What the hell was I going to choose?" Adam got up from his chair and faced the crowd, "I'm not that tired so I chose the thoughts. Why not right? Then there's this weird building with Orphan Black dudes in the lobby and the Tower of Terror elevator that disappears. This has _got_ to be Heaven, right?" He shook his head and caught his breath, "It's not really the Heaven I imagined when I was little. Everything's weird here, but no one's ever been in Heaven and lived to tell about it, so who knows what it's supposed to be like. I'm in a room with people I don't know and you guys keep talking about Earth like it's another planet. Either I'm having the worst dream ever, or we're all dead. We've got to be dead. I died in that crash. I _felt_ it. We're dead."

It was quiet for a bit as everyone gaped at Adam with shocked faces. No one seemed to know how to respond to his monologue, and no one looked to want to be the one to explain everything.

"Holy shit! He really doesn't know," It was Jackie.

"Dude," Brandon got up and placed both of his hands on Adam's quivering shoulders, "You gotta sit back down and relax. Because what I'm about to tell you is gonna be a game changer."

Adam looked at the boy in confusion. He couldn't think of anything that could possibly change the outcome of his fate in Heaven. As far as he knew, Heaven was the last place anyone could be, once they lived and died. Heaven was the pit stop, that's what he was taught to think in Sunday school.

He looked at the others and was taken aback by the quick change in their facial expressions. What were once shocked faces were now replaced by sympathetic sentiments. They could tell Adam still needed to understand things, and realized that they needed to be gentler with someone who clearly oblivious of his own condition. Brandon on the other hand, looked excited. He beckoned Adam to sit and took a big breath.

"You're not dead… yet. We're all not dead… yet."

Adam stared at the boy. What did he mean by _yet_? He furrowed his eyebrows and surveyed every face in the room for any sign of a prank. They all looked very serious. A glint of hope twinkled in each of their eyes, as if they all waited for their turn to go back home. Adam didn't want to believe them. What if it was true and he was never able to get back to his family? What was the point of knowing? False hope had always been dangerous.

"How can I not be dead, I crashed a van with a car, I felt my lungs give up and I literally felt my heart slow down. I know I'm dead. You're all crazy."

Brandon looked solemn as he glanced at Elise, who seemed to understand what he wanted to share with Adam. She nodded and let him say it. "I get what you mean, Adam. When Elise and I were stuck in a house fire, I felt every inch of my body burn. I knew for sure we were dead. When we got here, we thought we got lucky enough to be sent to the same Heaven."

"My family's raised me Agnostic. Heaven was never in our family dictionary," Elise explained.

"And I'm Jewish. When we died I thought I'd never see her again," Brandon smiled at his girlfriend and took a moment before continuing, "But then we ended up here together. We figured it must mean something. The cloned dudes downstairs made us go to the Glimpse room, and that's when we realized we weren't dead yet."

"He's right, man" A boy who hadn't spoken since Adam's arrival said, "I wasn't with them at the Glimpse, but I had to do the same shit. Mine was: gunshot, forest, clones, glimpse, and then some bro downstairs sent me up in this room. We're not dead, man. We're just in a coma."

Adam looked in Jackie's direction. She also said something along the same lines of initially thinking she was dead until she had the Glimpse. But she also said, "You probably know what we're talking about though. Unless your Glimpse was blurry."

He didn't know what to say. They all seemed to tell the truth and shared the similar experiences in Heaven. But the problem was that Adam couldn't relate. The truth was that he had no idea what a "Glimpse Room" was supposed to be. They all did something that he didn't get to do. He didn't think it was possible to feel left out in Heaven.

Adam recounted his steps since his appearance in Heaven. There was the door, followed by the forest, where the path led to the fork. He ended up in Suspension where there were cloned men, and brought into an elevator and lastly into the room. There was not a moment in his time here when someone told him to go to a room called "Glimpse".

"I have no idea what the Glimpse is," He admitted.

The boy who said he was shot exclaimed in disbelief, "Man, don't fuck wit' us! Everyone goes to the Glimpse before the room. That's what everyone did. If you didn't like yours, don't mess wit' us. It's the only thing we know that's for sure and reminds us of what's for real." He shook his head and faced Brandon, "Bran, this bitch acts all innocent like he don't know shit and then messes with us," He turned back to Adam and looked at him suspiciously, "How'd you even get up here? He asked accusingly, "Are you one of the guards? Are you taking one of us to Rest? Who the hell are you, man?"

Adam sat wide-eyed and shocked at the boy's allegations. It sounded as if he made Adam to be some sort of Heaven Spy who was supposed to take one of them to die. Whatever this boy thought he was made Adam question his own identity. If he wasn't dead yet, then what in the world was he supposed to be?

The uncertainty of his life, on whether he was alive or not _yet_ dead, was confusing him.

"I really don't know what it is!" Adam said, desperately trying to defend himself.

"I'm on to you, man," The boy said, "Something about you's shady."

"Cut him some slack, Lionel," Elise spoke up. The boy, whose name Adam now knew, clamped his mouth. She hadn't let her eyes wander away from Adam ever since he admitted to not knowing about the Glimpse. "I sorta believe that you _really_ have no clue about the Glimpse, but Lionel's is right. How did you get up here if you didn't go there first?"

All eyes looked to Adam waiting for him to say something. Adam felt himself begin to panic. If the people in the room weren't quiet enough, they definitely were now.

"I was told to take an elevator to the 17th floor," He started, "No one told me to go to a Glimpse, whatever the heck that is."

Adam wasn't sure what to think anymore. He was so sure he'd died in that crash. But it seemed as though what these people said of being in a coma was real. Even if it was hard to imagine. They weren't dead… yet. Even if it was laced with a tiny bit of suspicion, he understood what Brandon meant.

"So you're not a guard?" The girl on the couch asked.

"No! I swear I'm not," Adam said, "I didn't even know there were guards up here. What do they even look like? Do they like, snatch you away, or something?"

Elise shook her head, "They come up here. Call a name. If it's yours, you follow them. No questions asked."

"We have no idea where they take them. They up and leave, and we never see them again," Jackie, who had been mute for quite some time finally spoke up, "I've been here long enough to see people come and go. I never know if they get sent to Rest or if they ever woke up."

Adam studied the girl. Sure, she may have looked much like Becky, but this girl looked a heck of a lot sadder.

"So are we… Are we like, prisoners then?" He asked.

Brandon laughed uncomfortably and the rest just shook their heads, "When my babe and I got here, we thought the exact same thing. Like we were getting punished or something," He walked to Elise and put an arm around her, "But there's something about this place that makes it feel like a second chance, y'know? We fucked up one time, and here we are, waiting to see if we can get past this and get back down."

Adam watched everyone and pondered on what he was being told. "Are we in Heaven?"

He expected them to laugh again, or shake their heads like he was the court jester. In truth, he needed to ask these questions to make sense of the reality he was in. To his surprise, they all answered at the same time and said a simple "No."

"They call it Suspension," Elise said, "It's the place where you're not alive but you're not dead either. Your life is up in the air. It might keep going up, or it might come back down. Either way you're not sure and it stays in the air, _suspended_."

"Wow that was very… well thought out."

"If you went to the Glimpse, you would've heard the same spiel, bro" Brandon sighed, "M'babe here's just got real good memory."

Adam got up and walked around his chair and ignored the eyes that followed him. He stood next to Jackie's chair and looked out the window. He expected seeing nothing but a painted horizon, but was astonished to see something that looked very real. It was beautiful, but it was far. There was so much brightness far off into the distance in contrast to the dingy atmosphere of the building they were cooped up in.

No wonder Jackie kept her eyes glued there. The outside looked like something they'd seen before, like something straight out of Earth. It was beautiful, and enticing, but most of all, it reminded Adam of home.

"If we're not in Heaven, does that mean that place over there-" Adam pointed to the cloudless fields, "Is that supposed to be Heaven?"

The kids behind them all stood and took a peek. Some of them gasped, and some sighed. Nobody spoke. No one seemed to know the answer.

Adam stared some more until he remembered one thing. He meant to keep it to himself, but it came out as a whisper, instead.

"How can I get my own Glimpse?"

**~ . ~ . ~**

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and tell me if you liked it. If you hated it, you can leave a review to tell me to. If you just simply don't like it, you can leave a review too.  
>[Confession: I'm starting to lose ideas on how I could finish this story, and my guess is that no one actually reads this story, so if it gets shittier, I'm sorry, because that might be me quitting a little bit]<strong>


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